At the Beginning With You
by Chou ni Natte
Summary: Kaito ends up taking a mind trip back to the past. One little change can set off a line of possibilities… *Kaito x Shinichi*


**Title:** At the Beginning (With You)

**Author:** Keitorin (Chou ni Natte)

**Fandom:** Magic Kaito/Detective Conan

**Pairings:** Kaito x Shinichi, Shinichi x Ran, past Kaito x Aoko

**Rating:** K+

**Type:** AU, future

**Author's notes:** First DC/MK fic, I don't know about my characterization. Also, I am no expert at Japanese and gyaru-moji only gives me a headache, so if I got something wrong, don't kill me. OTL

**Summary:** Kaito ends up taking a mind trip back to the past. One little change can set off a line of possibilities…

**Disclaimer:** I don't claim to own DC/MK. I write for fun, not profit.

**Terms:**

Keitai = cellphone

Gyaru-moji = "girl's alphabet", used for sending cell phone text messages (look it up on Wikipedia; try Goroawase too!)

Asobu = (to) play

Kouyuu = friend(ship)

Also, don't know if the code towards the end will all show up on certain browsers.

* * *

Akako had tried to warn him, had said that no one came back mentally the same way they had gone; some had even gone insane, and there was even a case or two of suicide. Something had happened to their minds that no one could explain…

Kaito had thought he would be the exception, as usual.

He'd been doing a lot less thieving ever since he'd taken care of Pandora and gotten revenge for his father (with the help of one Kudou Shinichi), but he hadn't been able to resist the lure of seeing and holding for himself the fist-sized and very, very expensive dark blue gem that was the Goko Rokuro.

From the get-go the name and history of it intrigued him. He'd seen a lot of gems in his time, and the Pandora had been the one with the most interesting backstory, despite his personal disinterest in its mystic effects. A gem that hid another gem inside that could weep tears was interesting.

A gem that was rumored to snatch people's minds, sending them in a coma for a time, only to return them all warped and broken…and sometimes they never came out of the coma at all? That was _fascinating_.

It had been found eons ago in a well. At first the people had thought it a blessing. It was a beautiful, dark blue colored gem; big as a fist and it just _drew_ you in when you stared it. It captured the depths of your heart and soul, and the people had put in on display for all to see.

Until people started going into comas after prolonged staring, and when they woke up, they went mad.

The gem was lost then, and hadn't shown up for centuries. Until now, when it had been on display and Kaito had stolen it.

As he'd stared at it from underneath the moonlight on a tree branch, he'd thought to himself that he understood why people had stared at it for hours and gone mad. It was…resplendent, it was irradiant, was…

…He hadn't been the exception this time, not at all. Somewhere in his staring and trying to come up with words to describe the wondrous gem, he'd found himself fading away, and could only spare a second's worry about how his body was probably going to be hitting the ground rather painfully.

He hoped no one would peek when they found him, but couldn't find any hope in that last thought.

* * *

"You're late!'

"Ah, sorry." Kaito flapped a hand at the annoyed Aoko, who was waiting for him outside of his house.

It had been five days since he'd found himself back in the body of his seventeen-year-old self.

A lot had changed in the five years since he was that age, but it was strange how easy it was to get back into this life. It wasn't strange how boring he found it, though. He only realized how much he'd grown over the years now that he was put back into the body of his teenage self.

He certainly had no desire to flip Aoko's skirt up anymore, unless it was for revenge over some annoyance she'd caused him. They'd never stopped their little pranks or name-calling on each other.

Still, he'd found other, new ways of pranking her, especially after she'd started wearing underwear with f…f-_fish_ designs on them. Okay, so that was something that hadn't changed, though he could at least look at them now without feeling like he was going to have a heart attack. He had a few people's help with trying to get over that phobia. If he knew well beforehand that there was going to be mention of those…creatures, he could utilize his Poker Face enough to get through it.

So, it felt like he was just going through the days, through the motions of it all. Already? Yep. He was in for the long haul, at least until he could (again) track down the jewel that had sent him here in the first place. It was pretty ironic that he'd traded in one mystic gem for another.

Luckily, he hadn't been sent back to the very beginning, when he'd first became Kaitou Kid. It was exam time, and Kaitou Kid wouldn't be in action for another few weeks. He was glad that he hadn't had to go through that cold again.

"Kaito?"

Kaito looked to the side to see Aoko staring at him with mixed annoyance and concern.

It was interesting to compare the Aoko of the past with the twenty-two year old Aoko. She'd grown up, that was for sure, just like she'd wanted. She'd even developed in…certain areas.

…And she was very much in love with Touyama Yutori, a star athlete and a kind-hearted man. He was perfect for her, unlike how Kaito had been. He was happy that she'd found someone who could devote the time to her, the honesty she deserved, the warmth and love that she needed. She was a bit of a tomboy, but there was a womanly side to her that needed a man like Yutori to bring it out. Kaito was content with that, and the two were still the best of friends (after the initial time it had taken them both to recover after the confessions and then regretful parting of ways; along with a bit of heated argument thrown in).

Rather than making it hard for Kaito to deal with her fifteen-year-old self, it was somehow easier. Back then; or he supposed, now, he'd never outright confessed, and he was always teasing. Since they still teased in the future, it was easy enough to fall back into it.

Homework was a cinch, as was dealing with the police, even pretending to lose against the police on certain heists.

All in all, it was very boring, and Kaito couldn't wait until _the_ heist came. The heist where he'd meet Shinichi for the 'first' time. Where Shinichi would meet _him_ for the first time. He'd known from the beginning that trying to change the past too much would be a no-no, but he might be able to have _some_ fun with it.

"Kaito, are you ignoring me?!"

* * *

Kaito didn't look away from Kudou Shinichi's face as he fell from the clock face. He regretted that he wouldn't get to see the other boy's face as he deciphered the message. He had no doubt that the genius would get the double meaning, even though the code wasn't very popular at this period in time.

In the future, Shinichi was still a very successful detective, and was engaged to the notorious karate instructor, Mouri Ran.

Kaito, in disguise, met up with him for lunch every Sunday. Kaito had contemplated on and off about telling Shinichi his real identity, but he suspected that the other already knew. Besides, it didn't matter. No matter what his physical appearance, it was Kudou Shinichi who understood him most in the world. He suspected, hoped, that it was the same for the other man as well.

Only in that lunch hour could they set aside their differences, their job as 'thief vs. detective', and just be two young men having lunch and chatting like friends do.

It was a part of Shinichi that Ran could never have, and that Kaito would treasure for the remainder of his life. He'd found himself wondering if the other man returned the sentiment, but he always stopped himself before he could decide on an answer. He might not like it, and he was content with things the way they were between them.

Kudou Shinichi listened as Megure-keibu tried to read what the note said, bafflement in his tone as he failed. Shinichi looked at it over his shoulder as the note was handled over to them.

**＜├゛宀 ****ι****I=5****ぁ****ξ****・ﾌ****o∪ч****ｏ宀ｶ****`(^_-)v**

It was gyaru-moji. While most people used numeric messages these days, gyaru-moji was slowly rising in popularity. It took Shinichi a minute or two to decipher it.

When he did, he couldn't help but shake his head in amazement. If Shinichi wasn't who he was, and wasn't around people on their keitai a lot, he might not have caught the hidden message underneath.

_Kudou Shinichi, shall we play?_

And:

_Kudou Shinichi, shall we be friends?_

The word for "play" was asobu. The number five could be read as "ko". The word for friend or friendship was "kouyuu". "Ko (5)" plus the kanji for "asobu" equaled "kouyuu". The "chi" in "Shinichi" was written as 5 in gyaru-moji, so 5+asobu = "koyouu".

Clever.

Shinichi found himself excited at this new challenge.

* * *

"-to? Kaito, can you hear me? If you can, show me a sign. Anything…"

That voice…it sounded very familiar.

Through the haze fogging his brain, Kaito tried to remember what had happened.

He remembered that he'd been standing on a tree limb, staring down at….

No, that wasn't right. He'd been standing on a rooftop of a building, staring down at a gem.

A gem. The Goko Rokuro!

Then that meant…

With a great amount of effort, Kaito lifted a finger. He didn't dare try to lift his eyelids open; they felt like a ton of led was weighing them down.

The familiar voice called out to someone, and then a hand darted out to grab his, the one that had lifted the finger.

"Thank God. Kaito, it's me, Shinichi. You've been in a coma for several months. Just relax and let the doctor look over you…"

The words seemed to stutter through his brain like a traffic jam of ants, but he got the gist of it.

Shinichi. Shinichi was holding his hand tightly, willingly, and sounded so worried that Kaito was tempted to get his cottonmouth to open just so he could make a joke, to reassure the detective that he was well. Or at least alive.

Instead, he concentrated with all of his determination on lifting his eyelids. It felt like nothing was happening, but after a few seconds or so, he was rewarded – or punished – by the bright light of the overhead light piercing into his retinas.

As a doctor came and started fussing over him, he focused on adjusting his leaking, watery eyes to the light and peering to the left, where the voice had come from.

At first all he could see was a blur of colors - Shinichi's clothes, but then the details started coming into focus.

Kaito immediately sought out the other man's face.

There were lines that Kaito had never seen on the detective's face before. He looked like he hadn't slept in a month. His mouth and eyes were pinched, and he rather looked like his best friend had died. Kaito supposed it was close enough, and felt a pang as he caught the term he'd used to describe himself.

He felt the sudden need to speak, to reassure his counterpart that he was back now, and hopefully there to stay.

"Shinichi." He croaked out, and the before he know it, the detective's hand jerked forward abruptly to touch the thief's face, caressing his cheek almost desperately.

Kaito wondered what the wetness trailing down his cheeks and over Shinichi's fingers were for, now.

Then the new, updated memories started catching up to him, and the tears made sense.


End file.
